Doll



July 29, 1947. E. G. WINTERFELD DOLL Filed Dec; 15, 1945 INVENTOR Elsie Gilbert WZ'niQ/fii BY 2 ATT ORNEY Patented July 29,- 1947 T OFFICE ten/24,785

DOLL.

' ElsieGilbert -wintenfeld, NewiYork, :N. assignor to 'Thzeeeln-l-one Doll lGornoration, .New Kerk 4N. 5a icom r iqn :efNew York ApplicationDecember 15, 19Q5Sefial15103635329 (sweeten iifliaims. :1 The present invention relates to dolls of'the type having a rotating head which presents two or more, preferably three-facialexpressions, depending upon the position of the head relativet'o the-body-of the doll. I

Dolls having rotatable heads provided with different facial expressions thereon asheretofore constructed anddesigned have invariably-involved the use of a rigid or hard body capable-of providing a bearing support for the rotatable shaft on whichithe head is mounted. Such rigid or hard-bodies are objectionable not onlyzbecause they are more easily damaged than soft bodies but also because :for-a given size doll they are heavier in weight, more costly to produce and more likely :to .cause injury :-to infants and small children. There is thereforea :decided preference on the part of many adults :and children-for dolls thavingsoftlor fcuddly bodiessuoh ast'hose made from \cotton'batting or similar soft stuflingmaterial. 'To'the bestof my knowledge and helief no. one has devised -aidoll prior to .my invention havinga soft -cuddlysbody andaamotatable head presenting .difierent. facial expressions :associated with saidbodysothatthe head may be freely rotatedwhen desired requiring so little energy so to do that ,even a normal/infant, say a 'year old, can readily;manipulate the headand yet notwithstanding repeated rotation remain properly attached to the body and retaina'itsattractive appearance. v 1 v 7 HIt is ;an1obiect...of this invention :to provide a doll having a soft ibodyjancl a head pmvidedswi-th .difierent :facial expressions vrotatable relative :to said body, which :head requires tlittle :efiort to r tate-fitend yet, .when movedx-tolposition. to e'xpose to View :a'desired faoialiexpression' remain's fixed in this position until the l-head is manually moved again, whichiheadis movable :-relative to thesoit ;:body vwithout vinjury or adamagesthereto and {17118 parts of which doll are simple in Jzlesign and construction .and can readily she assembled even by unskilled labor so that :the doll isrelativelyxinexpensive. i Y v -'Other--objects and 'advantages 'of this invent-ion will be apparent from the following detailed description-thereon v I r In' accordance with this-invention a dOHjSfPlO- vided havinga body stufied with cotton' batting 'or other gfibrous or stnfiing material providing ,a soit anjd cuddly body? Disposed within this b d a'i ear h a p tep e erablr n-th f rmer a1 qy l rfh v tis an iaxialihorefex enit in th fulllfi n t f m .cv indenand'prtons ms an'extended-bearing surfacefor a shaft rotatably '5 7 t2 mounted therein. Asheet of fabric capable of receiving stitches is adhesively or otherwise secured to the-bearing support-and the cotton batting -or other stufiing stitched or sewed to this fabric thus fixing the bearing support relative to -:the =body so that relative movement of these parts':i-s-.:prevented. Aheadsprovided with. different (facial -expressions. on the peripheral surface thereof isfixedtogneendpf the shaft rotatably mounted in this rehearing ;for rotation with the shaft and a handsengaging member is secured ,tozor (made integral with the'head or withvthe qthereendtof the shaft which maytprotrudefrom the soft body so =that:by turning thesame the head also :turns due to the shaft being freely rotatable :in the ;-bearirig support. In the case where the hand-engaging member is-fixed:to.the heatirastommember,preferably in the form of a small. ball, is secured :to the other end of ;t.he

shaft-to prevent removalof the shaft and head carried there y from the bearing support, the balleshape of theston member permittin the. ready :rntat on not "the :h ad without disturbin th vpack n to astuflin 'mat riahfermins the soft body cfrth ldoll-whenzthe hand-e a ing'member smannallylmanipulated. Theheada d bal s are sp-mountednnthe eno it ends of vth r atable-sha t that thewar in-fr t onal conta t plect ely-iwithsth "top and .bottqm o the cy indrical hear ng membe and thus pr vent undesired l-rptation ofthe doll-head.

n th zn e erred m od men us a ed o the drawing the invention is shown incorporated in. aqdoll havingon the peripheral surface of the doll head three ,difierent 'facial expressions and the present description will ,be confined to the present illustratedembodiment of the invention. It. will be understood. however, that the novel features and improvements are susceptible to other applications such, for example, as ,a ,doll yin a d fie cent n mber of vfacial expressions, and hence the scope v0f this invention is not confined to the embodiment herein described.

,"In theaccompanyin drawin Fi re .1 is a fragm ntary front elevational Vi .v o a @011emb dyin "thiseinvention, portions of the doll, namely, the le s and one arm bein omitted-sincethese partsmay be Lofany conventional type and by omitting these parts the remainder of the doll embodying myinvention may be'shown on a somewhat larger scale;

"Figure '2j1sa verticalsection through the doll ofiFignrei-l; 7 v

1 i' i ure 13 .is a 'h IiZQIItaI section taken in .a plane passing'throughline 3-3 of Figure 1; and,

three face simulating portions, for example, may I I simulate smiling, weeping and sleeping counte J Doll head In is fixedly mounted on a'" I4 which desirably extends 1'5 nances. cylindrical shaft through the head, the end [5 thereof being fixed to a disc member I6 integral with or attached to the top of the head. Shaft l4 extends through; a cylindrical bearing member l1 having an axial 4 tion of the doll may be clothed with a jacket 3| or other suitable apparel and the bottom with legging 32 fragmentarily shown.

It will be noted that, due to the extended support provided by the axial bore H in bearing member I! for shaft l4, head H! can readily be manipulated by the top member or disc 16 to expose any, desired facial expression to view re- "qui-ri'ng little or no energy to impart rotary movement to the head so that the doll can be operated .even by a normal infant. Ball stop l9 permits rotary movement of the head without injury to the stuffing of the body and yet, due to the frictional contact between this stop and the head member and the base and top of the bearing -member, the head is retained in position to which it is moved; moreover stop I9 prevents removal 1 of the head and shaft from the bearing support bore ll of a diameter slightly greater than that of shaft Hi to provide an extended bearing support for the shaft I4 whichis thus freely rotatable in this bearing member. Secured to end .18 of shaft i4 is a small ball l9 which maintains the assembly of head, and shaft within the bearing member 11 preventing removal of this as-. sembly from the bearing member. The doll head in and ball stop. l9 are so mounted on shaft l4 that they are in frictional contact, respectively, with the top and base of thecylindrical bearing member I! preventing undesired rotary movement of the doll head. By manual movement .of disc i6, which manual movement requires little energy, the head may be readily rotated to any desired position. The bearing member l1 and the shaft l4 are desirably of wood but may be of any suitable material such as light metal, e. g., aluminum, or plastic. i v

Adhesively secured to the circumferential surface of the bearing member is a sheet'of fabric 20 which desirably coversapproximately the top half of the periphera1 surface of this bearing member. Body 2| of the doll consists of an outer fabric 22 defining the outlineof the body. and stuffing or packing 23, which may lie-cotton batting or other fibrous or stufling material, pro-j viding a soft cuddly body. The stuffing-ma terial 23 is sewed to the "fabric sheet 20011 the bearing member I! by means'of stitches which pass through thestumng and the fabric; Pref- .erably the top portion-of fabric -2l defining 'the outline of the body is also secured by stitches 25 to the fabric sheet 20. Thus the soft body 2f is secured to the bearing member I1; so that relative movement is prevented and a-bearing support for the shaft 14 carrying the head [His provided in which bearing support theshaft may" freely rotate so that by applying little energy to the disc It the head can be moved'to any desired position.

Secured to the top of the body is ahood'zfi which, as shown 'in Figure 3, encloses approximately 180 of the surface ofthe head. Thus when any one of the facialportions ll, [2 it, are in the position shown in Figure l, where it is exposed to view, the other twoportions are disposed within the hood 26 and hence are'notfexposed to View. Se'cur'ed'to this' hood as bysewing are tufts of hair or hairlsimulating material 21, 28 and 29, tufts 21 and 28 being "secured to the sides of the hood so thatlthey extend along' the sides of the face exposed to view and'tuft i 'fi at the top of the hood so that it overliesjtheltop of the head. A bowtfl maybeassociated. with the hood, as shown in Figure 1, ahd'the top'pon H. .Furthermore the parts of the doll, it will be noted, are simple, can readily be manufactured at little cost, and inorder to assemble the doll it is only necessary to place the shaft 14 carrying the head in the axial bore of bearing support l1, secure the stop member 9 to the end N3 of the shaft l4, sew the cotton batting or other stufilng to the fabric 20 and then clothe the resultant assembly. v These operations it will be noted are of a type. that can be carried out by unskilled labor.

. Sincechanges may be made without departing from the, scope of the invention, it is intended that the above description should be interpreted inan illustrative and not in'a limiting sense. For example, instead of hand-engaging member or disc l6 being fixed to head ID, the top of the head may provide a bearing support for end 15 of shaft M, which support is covered by hood 26, and the other end of shaft [4 may protrude from the soft body and .be provided with a hand-engaging disc or other member which when turned causes rotation of thehead and which prevents removal of the doll head. and associated shaft from the bearing-support (1. In this latter modification the hand-engaging: member is preferably not exposed to. view, for example, it couldbe disposed between the legs of the doll and covered by the dress or otherarticle of apparel worn by the doll so that the dollmay be held in.v one hand and the other hand .used to rotate the doll head to change the facial expression. 5

What is claimed is: g 1. .In a doll, .a body containing stufiiing materialsoas to provide .a soft body, a bearing memberin theupper portion of saidbody, said bearing member having an opening therein, a

fabric sheet secured to the exterior of said hearing member, said'stufling being. secured to said fabricsheet so. as -to.prevent relative movement of said bearing member. and said body, a shaft rotatably mounted in said opening in said hearing member, and a head fixed to the shaft for rotation therewith. said head having a plurality of different facial expressions.

2. In a doll, a body containing stumng material so as to; provide a soft body, a bearing memher in the upper portionof said body, said hearing member being elongated in thedirection of the length of said body and having an opening therethrpugh extending in the direction of its length, a fabricsheetsecured to the exterior ofsidbearing member, said stuffingbeing secured to saidi fabric sheet so; aslto prevent relative movement ofgsaidbearing member and. said ma a shaft frotatably moiuitdm said opening in sa1dijpeanng"me br.a head fixed to the shaft for rotation therewith, said head having a plurality of different facial expressions, a hood covering the top, back and side portions of said head leaving exposed to View only one of said facial expressions, and a member fixed to the top of said head for rotatin the head to change the facial expression exposed to View.

3. In a doll, a body portion stuffed with soft material to provide a soft cuddly body, a cylindrical bearing member having an axial bore extending from top to bottom thereof and disposed in the top of said body portion, a fabric sheet adhesively secured to said bearing member, said stufiing being sewed to said fabric sheet to prevent relative movement of the stuffing and the bearing member, a shaft mounted for rotary movement in said axial bore, a small ball stop member secured to one end of said shaft to prevent withdrawal thereof from said axial bore, a head having a plurality of facial expressions, said head bein fixedly mounted on the other end of said shaft, and a member on the top of said head for rotating said head by causing said shaft to rotate in said axial bore.

4. A doll as claimed in claim 3 in which said head and ball stop are in frictional contact with said cylindrical bearing member to prevent undesired rotary movement of said head.

5. A doll as defined in claim 3, in Which the cylindrical bearing member and shaft are of 0 wood, the stuffing is cotton batting, the head is provided with three different facial expressions, and a hood is secured to the top portion of the doll to enclose the back and sides of th head leaving exposed to view only one facial expression thereon.

6. In a doll, a body portion stuffed with soft to prevent relative movement of the stuffing and the bearing member, a shaft mounted for rotary movement in said axial bore, a small ball stop member secured to one end of said shaft to prevent withdrawal thereof from said axial bore, a head havin a plurality of facial expressions, said head being fixedly mounted on the other end of said shaft, said head and ball stop being in frictional contact with said cylindrical bearing member to prevent undesired rotary move-- ment of said head, a hood covering the head portion of the doll to enclose the back and sides of the head leaving exposed to view only one facial expression thereon, and a member on the top of said head for rotating said head by causing said shaft to rotate in said axial bore.

7. In a doll, a body portion stuffed with soft material to provide a soft cuddly body, a cylindrical bearing member having an axial bore extending from top to bottom thereof and disposed in the top of said body portion, a fabric sheet adhesively secured to said bearing member, said stufiing being sewed to said fabric sheet to prevent relative movement of the stuffing and the bearing member, a shaft mounted for rotary movement in said axial bore, a head having a plurality of facial expressions, said head being fixedly mounted on one end of said shaft, and

a member on the other end of said shaft for ro.

tating said head by causing said shaft to rotate in said axial bore.

ELSIE GILBERT WIN'I'ERFELD.

REFERENCES CITED The followingreferences are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,608,415 Mytton Nov. 23, 1926 1,615,401 Payne Jan. 25, 1927 

